Capello Appointment Continues a Very English Tradition

December 14th, 2007 | by: Daryl | Comments Off

It’s still not 100% official, but we’re 99% sure that Fabio Capello will be England’s new £6 million a year manager any day now [update: it just became official] It seems like the smart appointment, particularly as England need someone unafraid of star players, unaffected by tabloid silliness and unwavering in his tactical discipline. Capello seems like a man with a plan, and a plan that he’ll stick to. Also his spectacles are very suave. But the one thing that troubles me about Fabio Capello’s appointment is that it’s part of a larger pattern that the English FA have been following for years. Seems to me that from Graham Taylor onwards every single England manager has been appointed to compensate for his predecessor’s shortcomings. Rather than picking the best man for the job, the FA seem to pick whoever appears to be the most complete opposite of the man they’ve just fired. And if they hire Capello to replace McClaren then they’ll have gone and done it again.

England managers from 1990 onwards:

Graham Taylor 1990-1993
Slightly nerdy
Not fond of fancy players like Gazza or Chris Waddle.
Fond of route one football and hard-working donkeys like Carlton Palmer.
Wasn’t too popular with players, especially after substituting Gary Lineker for Alan Smith in his last ever England match.
Ridiculed by the English tabloids, who depicted him as various vegetables and nicknamed him “Turniphead”

Terry Venables 1994-1996
Charisma and foreign experience made him a media darling.
Encouraged and indulged talented players like Gazza.
Already had a cool nickname from his time in Spain: “El Tel”
Dodgy business dealing came back to haunt him and El Tel wasn’t offered a new contract after the tournament.

Glenn Hoddle 1996-1999
Famously God-fearing Christian man who wouldn’t do any dodge business deals.
Lost respect and alienated players when he hired a faith healer for the team.
Lost his job after making the very weird suggestion that disabled people are paying for sins committed in former lives.

Kevin Keegan 1999-2000
Seens as master motivator who players would respact and want to play for.
Put together a popular, attractive, but ultimately unsuccessful Newcastle team.
Tactically inept, couldn’t grasp the concept of holding onto a lead.
Over-emotional, resigned in the toilet after losing to Germany.

Sven Goran Eriksson 2000-2006
Ice Swede with the track record of winning trophies at club level.
Frustrated everyone with unadventurous 4-4-2 tactics.
Over-reliance on star players.
Constant job-hunting and womanizing.

Steve McClaren 2006-2007
English
Relatively inexperienced (a few mediocre seasons with Middlesbrough)
Grateful for the job and unlikely tout himself around for a better paying gig with a big European team.
Complete absence of media savvy (whitening his teeth, flying to LA, all that)
Not respected by superstar players
Weakness in the face of public pressure, replacing Paul Robinson with Scott Carson against Croatia.

Fabio Capello 2007-?
All the experience in the world.
Doesn’t care what the media think. Ask the Madrid press.
Commands respect.
Stubborn, will do whatever he thinks needs to be done to win.